[1]Software Description

The following is a description of Folder Scout Standard Edition, as per the developer:

Jump to your folders instantly. Folder Scout is a very useful application that gives you instant access to any Drive, Folder or File on your computer.

Folder Scout avoids everyday tedious folder tree navigation and searches allowing you to focus on just your important tasks. With its high speed search engine you can access any folder on your computer just by typing a few letters of its name.Key features:

Also get instant access to Favorite Folders, Recent Folders and Recent Documents.

dotTech Advice

Folder Scout, as the name may imply, is a software for finding folders on your computer. It finds folders extremely quickly (after you have let it index your folders, which can take 2-3 minutes depending on hard drive size, how many hard drives you are scanning, etc.) and accurately with the added bonus of real-time search — folders show up as you type. In addition to folder finding, Folder Scout has a Favorites tab where you can add folders to favorites for easy access, a Recent Folders tab for showing recently access folders, and a Recent Docs tab for showing recently access files. The Standard Edition of Folder Scout works for local drives only while the Professional Edition ($29.95 or $9.95 while this freebie promotion is live) has the ability to scan network drives in addition to local drives.

The biggest issue with Folder Scout is: why would anyone want to use it? Folder Scout only finds folders — not files. Why would anyone want a program dedicated for searching folders when there are dozens of excellent desktop search programs – Everything[2], Find and Run Robot[3], and even native Windows Search to name just a few – that can find folders and files as quickly as Folder Scout can find folders (Everything is particularly fast). I see no reason to bother with Folder Scout. If you need a desktop search program, I highly recommend Everything; Find and Run Robot, Copernic, and Google Desktop Search are just few other good ones that pop into my head. My personal preference is Windows Search; the ability to open my Start Menu with the press of one key and type away to find whatever I need is nearly priceless.

Freebie Details

Folder Scout Standard Edition is being given away in a promotion by Giveaway of the Day[4]. The giveaway is live for 24 hours and will end 23:59 Pacific Standard Time Monday March 19, 2012; and you must download, install, and register by that time.

Extract the ZIP file and you should see three files in there — Activate.exe, Readme.txt, and Setup.exe. Double left-click on Setup.exe to install Folder Scout Standard Edition. Installation is like any other normal program; follow on-screen instructions.

After installation of Folder Scout Standard Edition finishes, close Folder Scout Standard Edition if it is running. Folder Scout Standard Edition minimizes itself to the system tray so double-click there to make sure it isn’t running. If it is running in the system tray, right-click it and hit Exit.

Once you are sure Folder Scout Standard Edition isn’t running, go back to where you extracted the ZIP file and double left-click on Activate.exe (Vista and Win7 user be sure to right-click and do Run as administrator). Make sure you have a valid Internet connection at the time and wait while Activate.exe checks to make sure the giveaway is still live. Once it confirms the giveaway is still live, Activate.exe will automatically register Folder Scout Standard Edition for you. When it is done, the Giveaway of the Day installer will popup — click Close (unless you want to install an optional third-party program Software Informer, in which case click Software Informer):

[6]

Done. You can now use Folder Scout Standard Edition.

Enjoy!

If you have trouble getting Folder Scout Standard Edition for free, post below and other dotTechies or I will try to help.